SaveMeTrust

The Save Me Trust exists to give wild animals a voice. It was created by Dr. Brian May and Anne Brummer to speak out about the cruel minority in our society, that persecute and torture wildlife for 'sport'. Save Me has become a leading voice in opposing the government's unscientific badger culls whilst fighting against animal cruelty and injustice.

Save Me arrived on the scene in 2009. We were shocked to see that if the Conservatives became elected they would try to bring back fox hunting (click here) by repealing the act. It was an issue firmly in their manifesto. The Conservative government didn't get an outright majority and a new coalition government was formed.

The badger cull (click here) was introduced by the coalition in spite of all the credible science stating that it would not work. They cancelled five of the six vaccination projects that were underway and regretted that later. In an EFRA select committee meeting on bTB, they recognised it as a "missed opportunity".

The coalition forged ahead with the cull; we have now seen 4 years of culling. In September 2017, 11 zones were added to the 10 existing zones. It is ineffective, unsustainable and inhumane. The government has produced no credible evidence that this policy is working. It is one of our key issues.

We organised a very successful symposium to increase the communication on all sides (click here) in March 2017 - along with Defra - and continue to work to find a solution that will help farmers, badgers and the public purse. We will continue to take legal action to bring the government to account on this issue.

The repeal of the Hunting Act was not as simple as the party had hoped for. It was not sought during their time in office (2010-2015) and was prevented by others within the coalition.

On May 7th 2015, the Conservative Party formed a majority government and, with their manifesto promise, seemed likely to hold a free vote on repeal.

Times have changed and the myth of failing rural economies, the myth of loss of tradition and the false claim of population control have seen MPs change their views. The public are against repeal and many Conservative MPs found that this issue affected their votes. We have a new group of MPs and the foxes have three ministers on their side, plus many Conservative MPs. Labour still support the ban along with SNP, and so the proposed free vote should see the House retain the act.

This is by no means a given and we will continue to fight to prevent a repeal. The repeal of the act still remains a threat and we will stay vigilant to prevent it from becoming a reality.

Save Me spends much of its time in Parliament lobbying MPs and trying to find a solution to the badger cull and to prevent the repeal of the fox Hunting Act.

We launched Amazing Grace in Parliament (click here) - a campaign to halt the dramatic decline in hedgehog numbers - and have secured the first Hedgehog friendly village in our home village of Windlesham. We are now supporting our local borough to become hedgehog friendly. Through Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue (click here) we are establishing soft release programs for hedgehogs in suitable locations and this is proving very successful.